5. “Who is the Self of Everyday Existence?” in From Conventionalism to Social Authenticity. Heidegger’s Anyone and Contemporary Social Theory, edited by Hans Bernhard Schmid and Gerhard Thonhauser (Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2016).

6. “‘Demanding Authenticity of Ourselves’: Heidegger on Authenticity as an Extra-Moral Ideal,” in Horizons of Authenticity in Phenomenology, Existentialism, and Moral Psychology, edited by Megan Altman and Hans Pedersen (Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2015).

7. “Autonomy, Authenticity, and the Self,” in Heidegger, Authenticity, and the Self, edited by Denis McManus (Routledge, 2015).

8. “Hubert Dreyfus and the Phenomenology of Human Intelligence,” in Skillful Coping: Essays on the phenomenology of everyday perception and action (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).

22. “‘The purpose of life is to end’: Schopenhauerian Pessimism, Nihilism, and Nietzschean Will to Power,” in More Matrix and Philosophy: Revolutions and Reloaded Decoded, edited by William Irwin (Open Court, 2005), pp. 50-66.

Background Practices: Essays on the Understanding of Being

This volume presents a selection of Hubert Dreyfus's pioneering work in bringing phenomenology and existentialism to bear on the philosophical and scientific study of the mind. Each of the thirteen essays interprets, develops, and extends the insights of his predecessors working in the European philosophical tradition. One of Dreyfus' central contributions to reading the historical canon of philosophy comes from his recognition that great philosophers help us to understand the "background practices" of a culture - the practices that shape and embody our most basic understanding of ourselves and the things and situations we encounter in our world. Background practices are all too often overlooked completely, or else their importance is misunderstood. Each chapter in this volume shows in one way or another how a broad range of philosophical topics can only be properly understood when we recognize how they are grounded in the background practices that shape our lives and give meaning to our activities, our tasks, our normative commitments, our aims and our goals.

Trivial Tasks that Consume a Lifetime

Kierkegaard argued that our highest task as humans is to realize an "intensified’’ or ‘‘developed’’ form of subjectivity—his name for self-responsible agency. A self-responsible agent is not only responsible for her actions. She also bears responsibility for the individual that she is. In this paper, I review Kierkegaard’s account of the role that our capacity for reflective self-evaluation plays in making us responsible for ourselves. It is in the exercise of this capacity that we can go from being subjective in a degraded sense—merely being an idiosyncratic jumble of accidental and arbitrary attitudes and affects—to being a subject in the ideal or eminent sense. The latter requires the exercise of my capacity for reflective self-evaluation, since it involves recognizing, identifying with, and reinforcing those aspects of my overall make-up that allow me to express successfully a coherent way of being in the world. Kierkegaard argues that taking immortality seriously is one way to achieve the right kind of reflective stance on one’s own character or personality. Thus, Kierkegaard argues that immortality as a theoretical posit can contribute to one’s effort to own or assume responsibility for being the person one is.

Heidegger and Unconcealment

This book includes ten essays that trace the notion of unconcealment as it develops from Martin Heidegger’s early writings to his later work, shaping his philosophy of truth, language, and history. Unconcealment is the idea that what entities are depends on the conditions that allow them to manifest themselves. This concept, central to Heidegger’s work, also applies to worlds in a dual sense: first, a condition of entities manifesting themselves is the existence of a world; and second, worlds themselves are disclosed. The unconcealment or disclosure of a world is the most important historical event, and Heidegger believes there have been a number of quite distinct worlds that have emerged and disappeared in history. Heidegger’s thought as a whole can profitably be seen as working out the implications of the original understanding of unconcealment.

Future Speaking Engagements

Presentations

1. “Transience and the Constancy of Existence,” ‘Ephemera’: On the search for permanence in a transitory world, Annual meeting of the Alpine Fellowship, Cini Foundation. Venice, Italy, August 27, 2016. 2. “Human Agency, Immanence, and the Life of the Spirit,” Virtue Theory and the Medio-Passive Agent, University of London. London, UK, June 18, 2016. 3. “‘I’ ‘here’ and ‘you’ ‘there’: Heidegger on existential spatiality and the ‘volatilized’ self,” Embodiment. Phenomenology East / West, Freie Universität Berlin. Berlin, Germany, May 6, 2016. 4. “The Task of Thinking in a Technological Age”, Heidegger on Technology, University of Sussex. Brighton, UK, May 3, 2016. 5. “The Temporality of Decay,” The Bombay Beach Biennale. Bombay Beach, California, April 23, 2016. 6. “Rescuing the Future from the Ordinary: Ruptured Time and the Experience of the Sacred,” The Phenomenology of Religious Life. Oxford, UK, April 14, 2016. 7. “Who is the Self of Everyday Existence?”, American Society of Existential Phenomenology, Franklin & Marshall College. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, April 9, 2016. 8. “Trivial tasks that consume a lifetime: Existentialist Approaches to Death and Immortality,” Keynote Address, San Diego State University Student Philosophy Conference. San Diego, California, October 17, 2015. 9. “‘We all still need an education in thinking’: Heidegger on Pedagogy in a Technological Age,” Philosophy of Education Seminar, Institute of Education, University College London. London, UK, June 17, 2015. 10. “Death and Immortality as Temporal Horizons,” The Immortality Project Capstone Conference. Riverside, California, May 29, 2015. 11. “Die Angst bei Heidegger und Kierkegaard,” Workshop, Institut für Philosophie, Technische Universität Dresden. Dresden, Germany, April 30, 2015. 12. “Making Sense of Human Existence (Heidegger on the Limits of Practical Familiarity)”, Workshop, Freie Universität Berlin. Berlin, Germany, April 29, 2015. 13. “Anxious Times: Kierkegaard and Heidegger on Selfhood,” Kierkegaard: Irony and Related Themes, Meeting of the Søren Kierkegaard Society of the UK. Oxford, UK, April 17, 2015. 14. “Making Sense of Human Existence (Heidegger on the limits of practical familiarity),” Keynote Address, Delimiting Limits, 8th Annual University of South Florida Graduate Student Conference. St. Petersburg, Florida, March 14, 2015. 15. “‘Always already more than a practitioner’: sense making and the limits of practical familiarity,” Keynote Address, Pragmatic Perspectives on Phenomenology, Institute of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Charles University. Prague, Czech Republic, February 6, 2015. 16. “Who is the Self of Everyday Existence?”, Keynote Address, Conventionalism: Heidegger’s ‘Anyone’ and Contemporary Social Theory, Universität Wien. Vienna, Austria, December 4, 2014. 17. “Heidegger on the Self of Everyday Existence,” Post-Kantian Seminar, Oxford University. Oxford, UK, December 2, 2014. 18. “Heidegger on Authenticity as an Extra-Moral Ideal,” Heidegger Circle, University of South Florida. St. Petersburg, Florida, May 10, 2014. 19. “Kierkegaard and Heidegger on Being a Self,” Workshop on Existential Phenomenology, Wake Forest University. Winston-Salem, North Carolina, April 27, 2014. 20. “Anxiety and the Self in Heidegger and Kierkegaard,” Spring Speaker Series, Philosophy Department, Claremont Graduate University. Claremont, California, April 10, 2014. 21. “Heidegger on Authenticity as an Extra-Moral Ideal,” Griffith Lecture, George Washington University. Washington, D.C., March 21, 2014. 22. “Anxious Times: Heidegger and Kierkegaard on Becoming an Individual,” Kierkegaard and the Present Age: An Interdisciplinary Conference, Brigham Young University. Provo, Utah, November 14, 2013. 23. “Heideggerian Authenticity and the Phenomenology of Moral Agency,” Institutskolloquium, Institut für Philosophie, Universität Potsdam. Potsdam, Germany, October 15, 2013. 24. “Anxious Times: Heidegger and Kierkegaard on Becoming an Individual,” School of Philosophy and Art History Seminar, University of Essex. Colchester, UK, October 10, 2013. 25. “Heidegger on Authenticity and Morality,” Post-Kantian Philosophy Seminar, Warwick University. Coventry, UK, October 8, 2013. 26. “Authenticity and Morality,” Philosophy Colloquium Series, California State University Northridge. Los Angeles, California, September 18, 2013. 27. “Autonomy, Authenticity, and the Self,” Deakin Philosophy Seminar Series, Deakin University. Melbourne, Australia, June 26, 2013. 28. “Heidegger on Human Understanding,” Keynote Address, Heidegger Workshop, Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. Melbourne, Australia, June 23, 2013. 29. “Heidegger’s Meta-Ontology,” part of the Lecture Series: “Later Heidegger,” Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. Melbourne, Australia, June 24, 2013. 30. “The History of Being,” part of the Lecture Series: “Later Heidegger,” Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. Melbourne, Australia, June 25, 2013 31. “Art, Language, and the ‘Worlding of the World’,” part of the Lecture Series: “Later Heidegger,” Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. Melbourne, Australia, June 26, 2013 32. “Our Technological Age,” part of the Lecture Series: “Later Heidegger,” Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. Melbourne, Australia, June 27, 2013 33. “New Beginnings – Learning to Dwell in a Post-Metaphysical World,” part of the Lecture Series: “Later Heidegger,” Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. Melbourne, Australia, June 28, 2013 34. “Heidegger on Time and Temporality,” presentation to the “Big Ideas” seminar on Time, University of California at Berkeley. Berkeley, California, May 2, 2013 35. “Hubert Dreyfus and the Phenomenology of Human Intelligence”, American Society for Existential Phenomenology, University of California at Berkeley. Berkeley, California, April 1, 2013. 36. “Autonomy, Authenticity and the Self,” American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division. San Francisco, CA, March 27-31, 2013. 37. “Autonomy, Authenticity and the Self,” Rice University. Houston, Texas, February 8, 2013. 38. “‘Ein vielleicht notwendigen Schein von Gründung’: Heidegger on the Un-grund,” Ungründe. Perspektiven prekärer Fundierung, Freie Universität Berlin. Berlin, Germany, January 31 - February 2, 2013. 39. “Demanding Authenticity of Ourselves,” American Society for Existential Phenomenology, University of New Mexico. Albuquerque, New Mexico, June 1, 2012. 40. “The Temporality of Sacred Space,” Sharing Sacred Space: Protection of Cultural Heritage, The University of St. Thomas Aquinas. Rome, Italy, Dec. 14-15, 2011. 41. “Demanding Authenticity of Ourselves,” Seminar on Selfhood, Authenticity and Method in Heidegger’s Being and Time, Division Two, sponsored by the British Academy, Nov. 16, 2011. 42. “The Phenomenology of Religious Faith,” Oxford Forum for European Philosophy, Oxford University. Oxford, UK, Nov. 14, 2011. 43. “Heidegger on Human Understanding: Rethinking the ‘Pragmatist’ Interpretation of Being and Time,” The Post-Kantian European Philosophy Seminar, Oxford University. Oxford, UK, November 2, 2011. 44. “Heidegger on Resisting the Demands of Technology,” Space, Place, and the McLuhan Legacy, the 12th Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association, University of Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta, June 25, 2011. 45. “Being in the World,” film presentation followed by Question and Answer session, presented at Space, Place, and the McLuhan Legacy, the 12th Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association, University of Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta, June 24, 2011. 46. “Being in the World,” film presentation followed by Question and Answer session, presented at Philosophy Club, University of California Riverside. Riverside, California, May 6, 2011 47. “Being in the World,” film presentation followed by Question and Answer session, presented at University of San Francisco. San Francisco, California, September 27, 2010 48. “Being in the World,” film presentation followed by Question and Answer session, presented at Brigham Young University. Provo, Utah, September 17, 2010 49. “Being in the World,” film presentation followed by Question and Answer session, presented at Utah Valley University. Orem, Utah, September 16, 2010 50. “Commemoration,” Roundtable on Memory and the Sacred, 2nd Annual Southwest Seminar in Continental Philosophy. Denver, Colorado, May 30, 2011. 51. “Bad Faith, Opacity, and Ambiguity,” Keynote Address, 2nd Annual Southwest Seminar in Continental Philosophy. Denver, Colorado, May 28, 2011. 52. “Inauthenticity, Ambiguity, and Opacity,” American Society for Existential Phenomenology, Goodenough College. London, UK, March 16, 2011. 53. “Sex, Love, and God: Merleau-Ponty on Ambiguity, Opacity, and the Motivated Failure to See,” History of Philosophy Workshop, Humanities Research Center, Rice University. Houston, Texas, January 21, 2011. 54. “Toward a phenomenology of deception”, Simian Lectureship in the Humanities, the Simian Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Eastern China Normal University. Shanghai, China, October 22, 2011. 55. “‘We all still need an education in thinking’: Heidegger on Pedagogy in a Technological Age,” Keynote Address, Second International Conference on Phenomenology and Pedagogy, Capital Normal University. Beijing, China, Oct. 16, 2010. 56. “Understanding and Learning,” Workshop at Capital Normal University. Beijing, China, Oct. 14, 57. “An Education in Thinking: Heidegger on Learning to Resist Technology,” Utah Valley University. Orem, Utah, September 17, 2010. 58. “Heidegger, Nietzsche and the Metaphysics of Truth,” Brigham Young University Philosophy Club, Brigham Young University. Provo, Utah, September 16, 2010. 59. “Heidegger’s Structural-Functional Account of Understanding and Interpretation,” American Society for Existential Phenomenology. Oxford, UK, June 28, 2010. 60. “Senses of Self,” Mormon Scholars in the Humanities, Claremont Graduate University. Claremont, California, May 21, 2010. 61. “Responding to Rorty: Heidegger’s ‘Academic Parochialism’ and the Technological Age,” Time Will Tell, But Epistemology Won’t: In Memory of Richard Rorty, University of California, Irvine. Irvine, California, May 14, 2010. 62. “Guilt and the Individual,” Claremont Graduate University. Claremont, California, March 4, 2010. 63. “Heidegger’s Relational Ontology,” American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division. New York City, December 27-30, 2009. 64. “Guilt and the Individual,” Philosophy Department Colloquium Series, University of New Mexico. Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 9, 2009. 65. “Heidegger's translations of Logos: Rede, Sprache, Sage,” California Phenomenology Circle. Irvine, California, May 2, 2009. 66. “Language: Rede, Sprache, Sage,” American Society for Existential Phenomenology, Barnard College, Columbia University. New York City, New York, March 22, 2009. 67. “Heidegger and the Hidden History of the West,” University of California - Berkeley. Berkeley, California, December 10, 2008 68. “Heidegger, Language, and the ‘House of Being’,” Philosophy Department Lecture Series, Georgetown University. Washington, D.C., October 17, 2008 69. “Heidegger on the Last God,” International Society for Phenomenological Studies. Asilomar, California, July 16-21, 2008 70. “Law and Rule Governed Behavior,” Keynote Address, Pre-Professional Conference, Brigham Young University - Idaho. Rexburg, Idaho, November 15, 2007. 71. “On the ‘Existential Positivity of our Ability to Be Deceived’,” Philosophy Club, Brigham Young University - Idaho, Rexburg, Idaho, November 15, 2007. 72. “Coming into its own and Fitting: Heidegger on Ereignis,” International Society for Phenomenological Studies. Asilomar, California, July 13 - 17, 2007. 73. “Martin Heidegger’s Engagement with Transcendental Philosophy,” University of Warwick. Coventry, UK, February 19, 2007. 74. “Some clues for understanding Heidegger’s hints about language,” Essex University. Colchester, UK, February 14, 75. “Deception as a Mode of Perception,” Society for Existential Phenomenology. Berkeley, California, January 12-15, 2007 76. “America the Metaphysical? Heidegger on the History of our Age,” Department of Sociology and Philosophy Colloquium Series, University of Exeter. Exeter, UK, October 23, 2006. 77. “Art as Phenomenology: Merleau-Ponty and Klee on the Role of the Body in Motivating Perception,” Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, Helsinki University. Helsinki, Finland, June 20, 2006. 78. “Heidegger on the Future of Philosophy and the Task of Thinking,” Colloquium on Contemporary European Philosophy, Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Europe, Brigham Young University. Provo, Utah, December 2, 2005. 79. “Existential phenomenology versus transcendental and empiricist approaches to philosophy,” part of a lecture series “Merleau-Ponty’s Existential Phenomenology,” sponsored by the Taiwan National Science Council and Chengchi University. Taipei, Taiwan, November 4, 2005. 80. “‘A Third Dimension’: motives as non-rational grounds,” part of a lecture series “Merleau-Ponty’s Existential Phenomenology,” sponsored by the Taiwan National Science Council and Chengchi University. Taipei, Taiwan, November 4, 2005. 81. “The body as the vehicle of being-in-the-world,” part of a lecture series “Merleau-Ponty’s Existential Phenomenology,” sponsored by the Taiwan National Science Council and Chengchi University. Taipei, Taiwan, November 5, 2005. 82. “The world as the correlate of the body,” part of a lecture series “Merleau-Ponty’s Existential Phenomenology,” sponsored by the Taiwan National Science Council and Chengchi University. Taipei, Taiwan, November 5, 2005. 83. “Phenomenology and the structure of the social world,” part of a lecture series “Merleau-Ponty’s Existential Phenomenology,” sponsored by the Taiwan National Science Council and Chengchi University. Taipei, Taiwan, November 12, 2005. 84. “Phenomenology and art,” part of a lecture series “Merleau-Ponty’s Existential Phenomenology,” sponsored by the Taiwan National Science Council and Chengchi University. Taipei, Taiwan, November 12, 2005. 85. “Heidegger on the Role Language Plays in Opening Up the World,” National Sun Yat-Sen University. Kaoshiung, Taiwan, November 7, 2005. 86. “What is Existential Phenomenology?” National Chung Cheng University. Minxiong, Taiwan, November 9, 2005. 87. “‘Transcendental philosophy must die’: Heidegger’s task of thinking and his critique of transcendental philosophy”, Transcendental Philosophy and Naturalism Project, Essex University. Colchester, UK, October 20, 2005. 88. “Paul Klee and the Role of the Body in Motivating Perception,” International Symposium on Body & Cognition, National Taiwan University, sponsored by the Center for Humanities Research of the National Science Council in Taiwan. Taipei, Taiwan, June 4-5, 2005. 89. “Art as Phenomenology,” University of Tokyo International Colloquium, Center for Philosophy, University of Tokyo. Tokyo, Japan, June 2, 2005. 90. “Hanging Out or Dwelling? How to Respond to the ‘Hidden History of the West’,” Heidegger - le danger et la promesse, Parlement des Philosophes, Colloque International à l'Université de Strasbourg, organized and sponsored by the French ministry of national education. Strasbourg, France, December 4, 2004. 91. “The Phenomenology of Social Rules,” Philosophy Colloquium, Utah Valley State College. Orem, Utah, October 27, 2004. 92. “What does Phenomenology Have to Offer Religion?” The Leonard Lecture in Philosophy, University of Nevada - Reno. Reno, Nevada, September 24, 2004. 93. “Heidegger on Language and Essences,” Third World Conference of Phenomenology, Oxford University. Oxford, UK, August 20, 2004. 94. “Is Heidegger a Linguistic Constitutionalist?”, International Society for Phenomenological Studies. Asilomar, California, July 16, 2004. 95. “Paul Klee and the Role of the Body in Motivating Perception”, The Depictive Space of Perception: A Conference on Visual Thought, sponsored by The Mitteleuropa Foundation. Bolzano, Italy, June 7-9, 2004. 96. “‘Er hat die Metaphysik der vollendeten Subjektivität zur Sprache gebracht’: Heidegger on Nietzsche, Truth, and Language in the Technological Age,” Heidegger und Nietzsche, 2nd Meeting of the Martin-Heidegger-Forschungsgruppe. Meßkirch, Germany, May 26-29, 2004. 97. “The Phenomenology of Social Rules,” The Hoger Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte, the Centrum voor Ethiek, Politieke en Sociale Filosofie, Katholiek Universität. Leuven, Belgium, May 10, 2004. 98. “The Experience of Death,” House of Learning Lecture, Brigham Young University. Provo, Utah, March 25, 2004. 99. “Heidegger and the Essence of Language,” Workshop, Claremont Graduate School. Claremont, California, December 19, 2003. 100. “Heidegger on Language and Essences,” the University of Montana - Missoula. Missoula, Montana, November 25, 2003. 101. “Is Heidegger a Linguistic Constitutionalist?” Graduate Workshop, the University of Essex. Colchester, UK, October 13, 2003. 102. “Heidegger on Truth as Robbery,” International Society for Phenomenological Studies. Asilomar, California, July 25 - 29, 2003. 103. “The Revealed Word and World Disclosure: Heidegger and Pascal on the Phenomenology of Religious Faith,” Questioning Religion, The British Society for Phenomenology Summer Conference, University of Greenwich. London, UK, July 11 - 13 2003. 104. “Non-Rational Grounds and Non-Conceptual Content,” Brain, Mind, and World, a conference sponsored by the Institute of Philosophy, University of Zagreb. Dubrovnik, Croatia, June 24 27, 2002. 105. “Between the Earth and the Sky: Heidegger on Life after the Death of God,” Philosophy Forum at the University of Montana - Missoula. Missoula, Montana, March 5, 2002. 106. “Heidegger on the Essence of Truth: Language, Reference, and Realism,” Södertorn University. Huddinge, Sweden, October 19, 2001. 107. “Between the Earth and the Sky: Heidegger on Life after the Death of God,” Religion After Onto-Theology, a conference sponsored by Brigham Young University. Sundance, Utah, July 23-28, 2001. 108. “Heidegger, Truth and Language,” International Society for Phenomenological Studies. Asilomar, California, June 13-17, 2001. 109. “Between the Earth and Sky: Heidegger and Nietzsche on Life After the Death of God,” American Comparative Literature Association. Denver, Colorado, April 20-22, 2001. 110. “Experience and Ontic Transcendence,” International Society for Phenomenological Studies, Asilomar, California, July 25, 2000. 111. “On Not Knowing What You’re Talking About,” International Society for Phenomenological Studies. Asilomar, California, July 19-23, 1999. 112. “Heidegger’s Non-representational Phenomenology of Perception,” American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division Meeting. Washington, D.C., December 28, 1998. 113. “Intentionality without Representation: Heidegger’s Account of Perception,” Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy. Denver, Colorado, October 10, 1998. 114. “Toward Recuperating the Contemporary Relevance of Socratic Dialectic,” Symposium Platonicum. Toronto, Canada, August 22, 1998. 115. “Practical Incommensurability and the Phenomenological Basis of Robust Realism,” International Phenomenological Symposium. Urbino, Italy, July 29, 1998. 116. “Legal Professionalization as Foucauldian Dispersal of Power” (with Paul Edwards), Law and Society. Aspen, Colorado, June 5, 1998. 117. “Heideggerian Phenomenology and the Sciences of Man,” International Phenomenological Symposium. Urbino, Italy, July 27-August 3, 1997.

Faith and Reason

March 21-22, 2017, Christ Church, Oxford University

The story of the secularization of the West is the story of an intermeshed set of profound changes in our practices for organizing society and ordering our day to day lives. These changes have not just undermined traditional forms of religious existence. They’ve also altered in general the way we think about the relationship between faith and the other aspects of our lives. Contemporary culture is shaped by a widely-shared sense that rationality stands in a kind of necessary opposition to faith. In this conference, we will explore this purported opposition with a particular concern for the way faith appears in the context of the practical setting of modern forms of life. Participants include Judith Wolfe (University of St. Andrews), Moshe Halbertal (Hebrew University/NYU), Rachel Fraser (University of Cambridge), Mark Wynn (University of Leeds), Dan Watts (University of Essex), Jim Faulconer (Brigham Young University), Sophie Grace Chappell (The Open University), Paul Lodge (University of Oxford), and Mark Wrathall (University of California, Riverside).

Participation is free but registration is required. A limited number of places at lunch and dinner on March 22nd are available gratis to participants. To reserve a place, please contact Mark Wrathall at mark.wrathall@ucr.edu

Organisers:Paul Lodge (Oxford)Mark Wrathall (UCR)

Cambridge Companion to Heidegger's Being and Time

The Cambridge Companion to Heidegger's "Being and Time" contains seventeen chapters by leading scholars of Heidegger. It is a useful reference work for beginning students, but also explores the central themes of Being and Time with a depth that will be of interest to scholars. The Companion begins with a section-by-section overview of Being and Time and a chapter reviewing the genesis of this seminal work. The final chapter situates Being and Time in the context of Heidegger's later work. The remaining chapters examine the core issues of Being and Time, including the question of being, the phenomenology of space, the nature of human being (our relation to others, the importance of moods, the nature of human understanding, language), Heidegger's views on idealism and realism and his position on skepticism and truth, Heidegger's account of authenticity (with a focus on his views on freedom, being toward death, and resoluteness), and the nature of temporality and human historicality.

How to Read Heidegger

Martin Heidegger is perhaps the most influential, yet least readily understood, philosopher of the last century. Mark Wrathall unpacks Heidegger’s dense prose and guides the reader through Heidegger’s early concern with the nature of human existence, to his later preoccupation with the threat that technology poses to our ability to live worthwhile lives.

Wrathall pays particular attention to Heidegger’s revolutionary analysis of human existence as inextricably shaped by a shared world. This leads to an exploration of Heidegger’s views on the banality of public life and the possibility of authentic anticipation of death as a response to that banality. Wrathall reviews Heidegger’s scandalous involvement with National Socialism, situating it in the context of Heidegger’s views about the movement of world history. He also explains Heidegger’s important accounts of truth, art, and language.

Extracts are taken from Heidegger’s magnum opus, Being and Time, as well as a variety of his best-known essays and lectures.

Bombay Beach Biennale

The ruin is a sign that’s no longer absorbed in its significance. It can no longer be used. At best, it sketches out the trajectory of its use. What it afforded in the past has been stripped away, leaving a fragment of signification still tenuously clinging to a moldering existence. We encounter a ruin as a past future – a future that at some point in the past was a genuine possibility. But we stand now in a future different than the one awaited by the users of the ruin in the past. We experience the ruin, in other words, as a memorial to ruptured time – as the past and foundation of a future that was broken off from it.

Being in the world

Once upon a time there was a world full of meaning, focused by exemplary figures in the form of gods and heroes, saints and sinners. How did we lose them, or, might they still be around, in the form of modern day masters, in fields like sports, music, craft and cooking. Are these masters able to inspire us and bring back a sense of wonder, possibly even of the sacred?